MST3K 619 - Red Zone Cuba
- Tom Servo being fed up with the film's ineptness. The Short Speech: Platform Posture and Appearance Synopsis Through liberal use of the knee test, looking good and standing tall, the secrets of public speaking are revealed. Information The Movie Synopsis A trio of convicts (one on the run and two who have merely been "up the river" and are now itinerant farm workers), desperate for money, are duped by a pilot ("Cherokee Jack") into signing up for what essentially becomes the Bay of Pigs invasion. CJ conveys them to the training site and after twenty minutes of instruction, they then shove off ''and are immediately captured. They plan to escape before they face the firing squad, but not before their fellow prisoner, a badly injured fellow named Chastain, divulges the existence of rich minerals on a mountain he owns in Arizona / New Mexico. They eventually make it back to the American Southwest--sans Chastain--where they go from town to town, robbing and killing in order to fund their trip to said mountain. Information * The original title of the movie was "Night Train to Mundo Finé", which translates as "Night Train to the End of the World." The title was changed to "Red Zone Cuba" for release, which gives the impression that this movie is about the Bay of Pigs invasion, but the movie is supposed to be about fugitives on the run, and the Bay of Pigs invasion is just one of the many incidents that the characters become involved with along the way. * A scene in which Coleman Francis' character returns to the cafe and rapes the blind daughter (after throwing the owner down a well) was omitted in the MST3K version. The Episode Host Segments '''Prologue': Mike arrives just in time for tonight's Lotto Draw, learning that Tom is a great lotto machine and that you need a lot of lotto numbers. Segment One: While Mike gets the all important power ball, 509, Frank reveals he's in deep to the mob for 50 large. But thanks to some minor re-direction, Dr. F gets the beating intended for Frank. Segment Two: Frank tries convince Dr F that he still has so much to live for and rouses the horribly injured man from his death bed, but questions his posture... Segment Three: While the strain of the movie causes Mike to believe that he's Carol Channing, Frank reads and relays the mountain of the "hope you die" cards and calls Dr F has been receiving due to his imminent death. Segment Four: As the strain of the movie causes Mike to cycle through yet more celebrities he believes himself to be, Frank tries to announce Dr F's passing, but he yo-yos between life and death. At least until the mob come back for a second go at him. Closing (Segment Five): Mike and the Bots sing a happy perky song to lift their spirits after the movie, while Dr F has recovered enough to "thank" Frank. Stinger: Blind lady plays the piano. Notes * The movie in this episode is the source of the frequent callback, "I'm Cherokee Jack." In context, the character is a bit of fifth business, an okie who convinces the gang to fly to Cuba. M&TB are bowled over by his pie-eyed delivery of this introductory line. The riff is often repeated when a new character appears unannounced or says something unexpected. * There is a full, un-MST'ed version of 'Night Train to Mundo Fine' available on YouTube: click here to listen. (Between this song and his use of rockabilly pioneer Jimmy Bryant in The Skydivers , Tony Cardoza picked some good --- or at least interesting --- music for his films.) * Cherokee Jack's sign says (presented as shown on the screen, with all misspellings and punctuation intact): "CHEROKEE-JACK" WILL FLIE YOU ANYWHERE? RATES-PRETTIE-REASONEBLE¡ SIGNED --Cherokee Jack Obscure References *'' "You must think tall, talk tall, stand tall, and walk tall..." "What if you're Robert Reich?"'' Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration, Mr. Reich is 4 feet 11 inches tall. *''"Wouldn't it be loverly?!"'' Song from the musical My Fair Lady. *'' "Do do do DOOOO..... DO do do doooo...."'' Tom is humming the theme to ''My Three Sons'', a sitcom from the 1960s with an iconic drawing of three pairs of legs and feet as part of the opening credits. * "... Except by Denny Dillon." Denny Dillon is a comedic actress and improv instructor who spent one season on "Saturday Night Live", and later co-starred on the HBO comedy series "Dream On". She is not very tall. *''"John Carradine for Viceroy!" "Sal Mineo for Viceroy!"'' Viceroy is a brand of cigarettes. Sal Mineo was an actor best know for appearing opposite James Dean in the film "Rebel Without A Cause". *''"Then I joined the Crash Test Dummies."'' The Crash Test Dummies were a 1990s Canadian rock band best known for their hit song "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" and vocalist Brad Roberts' bass-baritone voice. The term is derived from a pair of popular 1980's cultural icons sponsored by the US department of transportation named Vince and Larry who modeled proper seat belt procedures, and spawned toys and TV shows. *''"This was just before he was drained of life by the succubus."'' A succubus is a female demon whose victims (usually men) have their life forces drained by her while they sleep. She is also used as an allegory to describe sleep paralysis. *''"Drink Night Train, go to the basketball game...throw up under the bleachers..."'' There is a drink called Night Train Express. It's a flavored fortified wine that is 17.5% Alcohol By Volume. *''"Oh, Moe's gonna kill me!"'' A reference to Curly Howard from The Three Stooges. Coleman Francis somewhat resembles him. *''"Hey, Petey the Plane!"'' A reference to a running gag from an earlier Coleman Francis episode, The Skydivers. *''"It's a Shining Path fantasy camp!"'' The Shining Path is a Peruvian guerrilla/terrorist group. *''"Hi-Cuba!"'' A play off of the popular MST3K catchphrase "Hi-keeba!" * "It's either Castro or Stuart Margolin." Stuart Margolin is actor who is probably best known for playing the conniving Angel on the TV series "The Rockford Files". He appeared in Women of the Prehistoric Planet. *''"Hey, Tony, did you bring the book of questions?"'' The Book of Questions is a collection of hypothetical scenarios and ethical questions compiled by biophysicist and ethicist Gregory Stock . *''"This train is bound for glory, this train..."'' Lines from "This Train", a classic tune by Woody Guthrie that has been covered by many artists. *''"It's Fee Waybill!"'' A guy in the movie vaguely resembles Fee Waybill, lead singer of The Tubes. *''"He's a regular Mycroft Homes."'' Mycroft Holmes is Sherlock's brother, who is generally depicted as being smarter and more accomplished than Sherlock. Probably a dig at how the character in the movie is not a brilliant detective. *''"I guess I'm a dreamer."'' "...Montreal." This is a reference to a Groucho Marx joke about a pun on the song title, "I'm a Dreamer, Aren't We All." *''"Fuzzy Thurston is the Fugitive!"'' Fred 'Fuzzy' Thurston is a former NFL player, spending most of his career (1958 - 1967) with the Green Bay Packers. *''"Under the spreading Coleman Francis..."'' A sarcastic misquote of a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. *''"Apple's Way is different than I remember."'' A short-lived series in the mid 1970s, Apple's Way started as a sitcom, then changed into a light drama. *''"Mother of Mercy, is this the end of Curly?"'' A parody of the line "Is this the end of Rico?" spoken by Edward G. Robinson as Little Rico in the 1931 gangster movie "Little Caesar". *character says "Guard." "It's me, Margaret!" A reference to the young-adult novel, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. *''"Things you'd say to a guard...things you'd say in a prison...Pass, pass..."'' A reference to the game show Pyramid (which started as "The $10,000 Pyramid" and changed its name several times as the top prize grew), in which contestants tried to guess the category that a series of words or phrases given to them by their partner had in common. *''"You know, I still like this movie better than Havana." '' A reference to the poorly received 1990 film starting Robert Redford. *''"The Master says you can't stay here."'' A reference to ''Manos''. *''"Have you guys ever read The Total Filmmaker by Coleman Francis?"'' An actual book by Jerry Lewis. * "Oh, this is the Cuba/Bemidji border." Bemidji is a small town in Minnesota on the shores of Lake Bemidji; Crow is referring to the landing craft is obviously being on a lake, not the ocean. Video Release * Commerically released on VHS by Rhino Entertainment in October 1997. *Commerically released on DVD by Rhino in April 2002. Category:MST3K Episodes Category:Episodes with shorts Category:Season 6 Category:Indie Film Category:Unrated movies Category:Episodes directed by Trace Beaulieu